STARKVILLE, Miss. – Jackson Lovich’s two-run home run in the seventh inning and a dominant relief effort by Brock Lucas helped University of Missouri baseball close out its 2024 season with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over No. 18 Mississippi State Saturday afternoon at Dudy Noble Field.
After battling back from an early 2-0 deficit to tie the contest in the fourth, the Tigers negated a sixth-inning Joe Powell solo shot on Lovich’s 10th home run of the season — a two-out blast to center — moments afterTrevor Austin kept the inning alive with a base hit off MSU right-hander Tyson Hardin (3-2).
Lucas calmly slammed the door on the Bulldogs after inheriting a two-on, one-out situation in the home half of the eighth. The right-hander needed just one pitch to induce a fly ball from David Mershon for the second out of the inning, then blew a third strike past one of the SEC’s most dangerous hitters, Dakota Jordan, to end the threat.
In the ninth, Lucas was even better, striking out the side in a 1-2-3 inning to wrap up the victory for Mizzou (23-32, 9-21 SEC) and his second save of the season. In all, the sophomore struck out four of the five hitters he faced in a perfect 1 2/3 inning stint.
The Bulldogs (36-19, 17-13 SEC) engineered a two-run rally in the second inning to grab an early lead, after a pair of walks from Tigers starter Ryan Magdic and a Logan Koehler single loaded the bases with nobody out. Ethan Pulliam’s fielder’s choice grounder to second brought in the game’s first run, before Bryce Chance’s two-out double plated a second MSU tally.
After MSU starter Pico Kohn turned in three scoreless frames to open the contest, the Tigers broke through in the fourth thanks to some help from the Bulldogs. A walk to Kaden Peer started the inning, before Matt Garcia was hit by a pitch and a pair of MSU errors combined to bring in the first Mizzou run of the afternoon. Thomas Curry reached on another hit by pitch to load the bases, and Drew Culbertson lined the first pitch he saw from Luke Dotson into left field for an RBI single that knotted the score at 2-2.
Mississippi State avoided further damage to keep the score even, as Gavin Black induced a liner to third off the bat of Juju Stevens, before a 6-3 double-play grounder ended the threat.
Logan Lunceford (2-5) earned the victory in relief, allowing just one run on six hits while fanning two Bulldogs over 4.1 innings. Austin capped his four-year Mizzou career with a 2-for-4 day at the plate, registering career hits No. 164 and 165 in the Tigers victory.
TIGER NOTEBOOK
After battling back from an early 2-0 deficit to tie the contest in the fourth, the Tigers negated a sixth-inning Joe Powell solo shot on Lovich’s 10th home run of the season — a two-out blast to center — moments afterTrevor Austin kept the inning alive with a base hit off MSU right-hander Tyson Hardin (3-2).
Lucas calmly slammed the door on the Bulldogs after inheriting a two-on, one-out situation in the home half of the eighth. The right-hander needed just one pitch to induce a fly ball from David Mershon for the second out of the inning, then blew a third strike past one of the SEC’s most dangerous hitters, Dakota Jordan, to end the threat.
In the ninth, Lucas was even better, striking out the side in a 1-2-3 inning to wrap up the victory for Mizzou (23-32, 9-21 SEC) and his second save of the season. In all, the sophomore struck out four of the five hitters he faced in a perfect 1 2/3 inning stint.
The Bulldogs (36-19, 17-13 SEC) engineered a two-run rally in the second inning to grab an early lead, after a pair of walks from Tigers starter Ryan Magdic and a Logan Koehler single loaded the bases with nobody out. Ethan Pulliam’s fielder’s choice grounder to second brought in the game’s first run, before Bryce Chance’s two-out double plated a second MSU tally.
After MSU starter Pico Kohn turned in three scoreless frames to open the contest, the Tigers broke through in the fourth thanks to some help from the Bulldogs. A walk to Kaden Peer started the inning, before Matt Garcia was hit by a pitch and a pair of MSU errors combined to bring in the first Mizzou run of the afternoon. Thomas Curry reached on another hit by pitch to load the bases, and Drew Culbertson lined the first pitch he saw from Luke Dotson into left field for an RBI single that knotted the score at 2-2.
Mississippi State avoided further damage to keep the score even, as Gavin Black induced a liner to third off the bat of Juju Stevens, before a 6-3 double-play grounder ended the threat.
Logan Lunceford (2-5) earned the victory in relief, allowing just one run on six hits while fanning two Bulldogs over 4.1 innings. Austin capped his four-year Mizzou career with a 2-for-4 day at the plate, registering career hits No. 164 and 165 in the Tigers victory.
TIGER NOTEBOOK
- Despite the loss in the series finale, Mississippi State claimed its first series win over Mizzou since May 5-7, 2016.
- With the win, the Tigers closed Mississippi State’s all-time series advantage to 13-7.
- Austin concluded his Mizzou career with a 15-game on-base streak.
- Austin also recorded his team leading 16th multi-hit game.
- Lovich extended his hit streak to five-straight games.
- Peer matched his longest hitting streak of the season, reaching four games with his fifth-inning single.
- With two long balls in the series, Lovich registered his second multi-home run series of the year (March 2-3, 2024 vs. Northern Kentucky).
